The Broken Heart
by BoogaHP1D
Summary: And this heart, split seven ways, was all he had left for himself. But it was slowly cracking, breaking into pieces. Shattering.
1. The Break

**Emily POV:**

We were in the middle of a battle against a particularly tough nighlock, and we seemed to be winning. He was drying out and we were exhausted, but we still put everything we had into the fight. We thought it was over, we had won, so we began celebrating, but he came back, mad as ever. With a vengeance.

He grabbed onto an unsuspecting Mike from behind and tossed him onto the ground. Hard. I screamed, afraid for my friend. We had been through so much together and I would hate to see him hurt. I cared too much about him.

Mike got up, ready for battle, when he was struck down again. I went to help him up, and Mike thanked me with his signature smile. The smile that melted my heart. The nighlock's smile, however grew even larger than it already was, as if he had seen something important. He released even more moogers and the four other rangers went to fend them off. Mike and I both rushed the nighlock and put up a pretty good fight, before he got the better hand and struck me down. He didn't seem to care though, as he walked away from me to face a recovering Mike. Mike stood up defiantly and he was joined by Jayden and Antonio, while Kevin and Mia came over to help me up. The nighlock's grin grew even larger as he spoke.

"So, you think you've outsmarted me? You think you'll win because you're a team? You're hard work and friendship conquers all? Newsflash, this is reality!" And with that he threw a dagger from his hand, right into Mike's heart.

This dagger dissolved on contact, but Mike clutched at his chest like he had actually been hit. My heart poured out to him, writhing around in pain on the ground, while Antonio and Jayden kneeled next to him, trying to help in any way they could. The nighlock spoke again.

"That was for the mentor who will never love you like a son. The mentor who despises the way you act. The mentor who could care less about you." Mike clutched harder at his chest and gasped for breaths. Jayden tried to calm him down.

"Mike, that's not true. Nothing he said was true. Mentor cares about you so much. Don't listen to him."

"And why shouldn't he?" The nighlock roared as he threw another dagger. Jayden and Mike both flinching and reaching for their hearts as it struck Mike's. "That one was for the leader whose flame will forever burn brighter and fiercer than yours. The leader who has never believed in you. The leader whose only belief is that you were worthless, an unneeded addition to the team."

"Mike, don't listen to him." Jayden said through gritted teeth. "It's nothing but lies. It's all lies"

"Oh, but it isn't!" The nighlock hissed with glee, as another dagger was plunged through Mike's heart. In an instant, Jayden released his grip on his heart and was replaced with Antonio, grasping at nothing but air. "This is for the friend who will always shine brighter than you, no matter what you do. He is the new and improved you, more valuable in every way. The friend who will do whatever it takes to make sure he drowns you out." Mike's face dropped and he looked over to Antonio with a strained expression.

"Amigo, that's not the truth at all. You're one of mi mejor amigos." Antonio said pleadingly. "Please don't believe him."

"Mike, don't feed into it! You're better than him!" Mia yelled from her spot next to me, and once again the nighlock released a dagger aimed straight at Mike's heart, but this time Mike powered down and seemed to be close to unconsciousness. Antonio ran over to his green friend and tried to comfort him. Mia fell to her knees as she clutched her heart, much like the others.

"And this is for the friend who feels you are her charity case. She pities you because you are so pathetic. She knows you are weak, and she feels bad, but not enough to care about you." Mike's struggle against the nighlock significantly lessened, as if he believed the words were true, and he was accepting them.

"Mike, don't give up. None of it's true. You are so strong!" Kevin yelled from his spot on the ground, next to a groaning Mia.

"You rangers just keep testing me!" The nighlock yelled as another dagger was thrown, Kevin, this time falling onto the pavement, clutching his heart with his hands. Mike was breathing very slowly now, out of routine, like it was a struggle. "And that one was for the friend who you say is important, but who really doesn't care about you. The friend who calls you weak and pathetic behind your back. The friend who tried to replace you on the team."

I gasped and looked over at a gasping Kevin, whose face was riddled with shock and pain. Mike looked over at Kevin, tears welling in his eyes.

"Kevin…" He managed to say, sadness clouding his voice.

"Mike, it's all a lie. I never said or did any of those things. You can't believe it. You just can't…" Kevin said, in a blur. But Mike seemed to not only believe it, but accept it.

"Mike, please don't give up... He's torturing you with lies…." I said softly to my best friend.

"Oh. and one final thing…" The nighlock hissed evilly, plunging a final dagger in Mike's heart, "This is for the girl who could never love you back." And the nighlock began to twist his hand, as hard as he could, until all you could hear was a crack.

My insides started to twist as I fell to the ground, my chest abundant with pain, but I could only see Mike's face. The way it dropped. The way he stopped breathing. The way his eyes extinguished. The way the fight flew out of his face. The way that he gave up, finally succumbing to the darkness. But why? Who didn't love him back? Masked by my confusion, I didn't see the nighlock move away.

"That should do it!" The nighlock laughed and all of the pain that was once in my body disappeared. I stood up and ran over the where the others were now standing, next to Mike.

"What did you do to him…" Mia hissed.

"What did I do? Ha, more like what you did!" The nighlock responded.

"What?" I asked breathlessly.

"I merely told him the truth. And sometimes, the truth hurts…"

"Truth my ass," Mia said angrily as she charged the nighlock, slashing him across the stomach. "All you said was lies."

"Yet, he believed me." The nighlock said as he recovered.

"You have about five seconds to explain what you did before I show you reality..." Jayden roared, raising his sword.

"Jayden…" Kevin started.

"No Kevin, we need to know how to fix Mike before we can destroy him." Jayden whispered to the blue ranger bluntly. Then, all of a sudden, the nighlock threw something into the air. Antonio caught it and began to examine it.

"It's a clock…" Antonio began. "Shaped like a heart… but the sections are made up of our colors… I don't get it."

"That, goldie, is your friend's heart. Broken beyond repair."

"But…" I started, tears stinging my eyes.

"That is all I say." The nighlock said simply as he slid into the gap, leaving only a faint red glow. Jayden and Kevin charged forward, but it was no use, he was gone. We all powered down, and ran over to Mike. Seeing him lying there, helpless, made me feel so terrible, and I stood up to take a walk, where Mia nodded to the others that she was following. Mike looked so pained, like all he had in the world was stolen away from him. Like it was shattered.

I tried to restrain the tears that were now pouring down my face. He looked so destroyed. The guy that made me smile, laugh, and feel beautiful was now so broken. So shattered. He was so happy. How could this happen? How could he be so devastated like that? So hurt? I fell to the ground and started to sob.

"It's all going to be alright…" Mia cooed as I leaned into her shoulder, crying.

"Mia... his heart is broken, how can it be okay?" I asked, pushing away my tears.

"Because Mike is the strongest person I know."

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**A/N: Please Review! Even if it's just a smiley face! They really help!**


	2. Back Home

_I do not own Power Rangers._

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Emily POV:

When we reached the Shiba house, the boys, who had carried Mike home, put him in a bed in the recovery room and Mia and I gathered chairs around him in a circle. Everything was silent while we waited for Mike to wake up._ If he was going to wake up._

Ji was standing in the doorway, a somber look on his face. As much as Mike annoyed him constantly, he truly loved the green ranger like another son. Jayden and Antonio were on the opposite side of the bed as me, both looking deflated. Antonio was inspecting the Nighlok's clock to find any further instruction on how it worked, and Jayden was wringing his hands together very tightly, as if it was the only thing holding him together. Kevin sat at the foot of the bed, head in his hands, staring directly at the floor, and kicking his feet into the bed frame. Kevin and Mike were best friends, no matter how much they antagonized each other, and to see the look of pain on Mike's face was killing the tough, yet sensitive blue ranger. Mia sat next to me, holding me in her warm embrace, bringing me comfort and warmth. There were tears in the corners in her eyes and I could tell that internally, she was begging for him to wake up. For him to be okay.

I was sitting right next to him, holding his cold and still hand in my own, looking straight at his chest. The only thing keeping me together was the steady rising and falling, letting me know that he was still alive. That was all I needed to know. That Mike was still alive.

The atmosphere of the room was bleak and depressing, and the weight of the world seemed to rest on top of all of us. The darkness of the night and shining of the moon filled the small room, and the bright fluorescent lights in the ceiling made us feel no better. Mike was always the one to lighten up every situation, and he had no replacement. Not one of us was as bright and joyful as Mike, and it showed. No one smiled, or laughed, or even dared to take a deep breath, out of fear that they would fall apart if they did. No one wanted to move their eyes away from him, too scared to look away and have him leave us. The pain of the unknown was settling on all of us. Hard.

We were scared because we didn't know what was going to happen. The nighlok's clock was ticking away, and we still had no idea what it meant. It was almost through the first brown section, which was followed by red and gold. The second half of the clock was pink, blue, and yellow. Obviously our colors, but what did they mean?

We didn't know if the nighlok was ever going to come back. They usually did, but this one seemed content enough with just torturing Mike and leaving us with no answers on how to fix him, thereby torturing us as well.

And the thing that scared us most of all, we didn't know if Mike was going to wake up. We could see his breathing becoming more labored, each one more spread apart than the last, and his pulse was becoming weaker by the second. His hands became frozen and numb, a dead weight in my hand. I could practically feel him slipping away from me as the seconds passed.

Antonio shoved the clock on the bed stand, clearly frustrated by the lack of answers, and he looked away from it, not being able to focus on it any longer. Mentor left his spot in the doorway, telling us softly that he was going to make us some tea, which I was sure we would all refuse. Nothing could make us feel any better. Not even Mentor's wonderful herbal tea.

The only thing that would make us whole again was if we could see the light in Mike's eyes as he miraculously recovered. Where was the hope when we needed it most?

"What did the nighlok even do?" Kevin said suddenly, snapping his gaze up from the floor to look at all of us. I could see tear tracks on his face and his eyes contained none of the life they normally contained. "Why did he say all of those things? And why did the words hurt us too? What even happened? And how do we fix it? Because I need Mike back… I need him back now...I can't just let him die...he can't just die...he can't leave us now..." he trailed off. It seemed that Kevin's short and joyless speech echoed how everyone was feeling. Not a single one of us knew what had happened, or how to fix it. Antonio looked back at the clock, angry, just wanting to know how to fix everything. Mia held me tighter, probably finding comfort in having someone to hold, but I pulled away gently. I stood up and walked over to Kevin, who had his head back in his hands and was scrubbing his eyes violently, trying to stop the tears from falling. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and held tight as the forever strong blue ranger broke down.

The tears began to flow from my eyes as the situation fully began to sink in. I had only felt numb before this moment, but all of my emotions were coming back to me and the pain was fully setting in. It was terrible. It was the mind-gnawing, heart-wrenching kind of pain. The kind that hurts like no other. And we all sat here, next to our friend who was barely breathing, sobbing.

Jayden and Antonio were hugging, clinging to whatever hope they had left. Mia had moved to hold Kevin's hand, while silent tears rolled down her cheeks. And Kevin and I were still locked together, crying and breathing heavily. Mentor had returned, and in the shock of seeing all of his rangers in despair, had dropped and shattered all of the tea glasses. The liquid was all over the floor, amidst the pieces of shattered glass. Yet, no one made a move to clean it up. No one wanted to do anything but see our friend return to us.

As if on cue, Mike took a long, steadying breath. Through our tear filled eyes and shaking sobs, we could see him begin to squirm. I let go of Kevin, giving him a soft pat of the back as he sat up, and moved towards Mike. I pulled his hand back into mine, already feeling the warmth return to his fingers, and up into my heart. I smiled and looked up at all of my friends.

Kevin was taking a lot of deep breaths and chuckling softly, trying to remove the pain from his voice. Mia was leaning over her chair as far as she could, to reassure herself that Mike was okay. Antonio was wiping the tears from below his eyes and Jaden handed him a tissue from his pocket, so he could blow his runny nose. Jaden was smiling and he finally gave a huge sigh of relief.

Everything was going to be okay. Mike was waking up. The tense feeling in the air was settling down and we were exchanging large smiles between each other. I squeezed his hand tightly, urging him to open his eyes.

"C'mon Mike...open you eyes for us...we need to know you're okay…"

Slowly he began to come to and the ghost of a smile crept it's way onto his face. He slowly opened his eyes up and we looked at each other hopefully. Opening his eyes was a good thing, wasn't it? When he didn't move to speak, or even look at us, a concerned look came over all of our features, and we focused on him even more intensely than before. There was a look of sheer terror and pain in his deep brown eyes.

And then, the screaming began.

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_**A/N: So, I know it's been a while since I've updated in general, let alone on this story but I was going through all of my stories and suddenly had this burst of motivation to finish all of them...we'll see how long my energy spike lasts but here's chapter 2 in the meantime. Please review, favorite, and follow...and as always, thanks so much for reading!**_


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